Never Assume
by Iconic Monster
Summary: Creature fic! It's Hermione's 17th birthday and she's been prepared for her dracken inheritance for years, but one assumption comes back to change her and everyone she loves lives forever. Can she help Harry and Ron fight against the dark lords threat or will she lose sight as she comes to grip with her new instincts and desire for someone of her own. Mostly DH compliant, HP/HG/DM
1. Inheritance

Hi I'm Iconic Monster and this my first Harry Potter story. The idea for this came from a lot of the same creature parameters as **StarLight Massacre****'s** story **Rise of the Drackens**. Any ideas taken from her story are merely used to further the entertainment of my story and not original. This story will be Hermione/Harry/Draco and a dracken story. It takes place during sixth year and will loosely follow DH with minor changes. The beginning chapters will jump around a bit, highlighting the minor changes then level out after the DH story is finished.

**Warnings: **this will be a story with a threesome relationship between the three. There will be mentions/minorly graphic sex scenes, male/male sex, violence, creature influences, language, and other warnings to come. I'll post warnings at the beginnings of each chapter.

**Disclaimer:** This story is a work of fiction and any characters and stories replicated from the books are not mine and no profit is being made from this story. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter 1 -The Surprising Planned Inheritance **

Mister and Mrs. Granger had just sat down for their fifth cup of tea. It was the Easter weekend and their youngest daughter Hermione had come home from school for a very important reason. You see tonight was Hermione's 17th birthday and the Grangers knew it was the night of her inheritance. They were drackens and of their five children Hermione was the youngest and second dracken. This was something Mrs. Granger had known since Hermione's birth and something they had prepared her for.

Just then the clock struck 2 am, the hour Hermione had been born 17 years ago. Mrs. Granger, Jean, put down her cup of tea and nodded to Mister Granger before heading up the stairs and entering their daughters bedroom.

There she lay, seemingly peaceful, until Jean walked closer to the bed and felt the heat rolling off of her in waves. Jean walked up to the bed and sat down next to her daughter where she would keep vigil until her daughter's transformation was complete and she emerged as a submissive darken.

In the early hours of the morning she was still sitting there next to her daughter, her creature attributes out as her dracken mentally screamed because its chick was in pain and there was nothing to be done for it. She ran a hand through Hermione's sweaty hair and pushed it away from her face. She sat through her daughters muscles contracting and expanding, the bones and skin moving and rearranging in disturbing ways and still she sat there, holding her daughter's hand and praying for the transformation to end soon.

The high pitched cooes that her daughter emitted broke her heart. But she would stay strong as she had

for her first born when it had been his turn. Finally the spasms seemed to be coming to an end and Jean reached over and gently rolled her daughter on to her stomach preparing for the final step. No sooner had she gotten her on to her stomach when two large appendages erupted from her back.

Jean smiled in awe at the beautiful scaled wings her daughter possessed. They were gold, like her eyes, and sparkled in the early sun light. Jean smiled at her daughters calm and sleeping form, it was done now her daughter was truly a dracken. She looked to the door as her husband walked in the room with a tray of tea, fruits and raw meat. It also held potions Hermione had made for them to give her to help her recover. They fed her both potions and watched as she began to stir.

Jean cooed at her daughter as her golden eyes finally opened and she glanced around the room. Jean remembered how she felt as a new submissive and how her mother had to assure her of Jean's father's initially frightening dominant presence. In Hermione's older brothers case, Patrick, their father had not been allowed in the room initially until his son was more stable for fear he would have been attacked by a fledgling dominate, confused by the instinct to protect a submissive. But as the daughter, and therefore female, Hermione was going to be submissive. They even had her first gathering, a time when all unmated dominate drackens would go to meet her and she could choose a mate, planed for that summer. They saw no problem with her father being in the room. This was a mistake.

As soon as Hermione saw her father she growled, low and dangerously, before standing on shaky legs in front of her mother, her new wings expanded and claws barred. It was then that Jean noticed the extent of the change that her daughter had undergone.

Strong muscles now adorned her body making her resemble a female boxer. She now stood taller than her previous 5' 4", closer to 5'11". Her wings were much larger than any submissive's ought to have been. All of these combined caused Jean to look at her husband with frightened eyes and say, "oh my god, she's not submissive."

The first thing Hermione noticed when she opened her eyes was that her vision was very different than what it had been before. She could now see so many different colors and variations on seemingly ordinary items around her room. Her hearing was also very different; she could hear cars driving three streets over. However, all of this wonder was short lived as she noticed the presence of two other drackens in the same room as her. The first was stroking her hair and she noticed was a submissive and recognized as her kin. Dismissing this one she immediately returned to the other and her dracken immediately screamed at her to protect the other dracken and defend herself. In a movement faster than she thought herself capable of, she leaped off the bed and in front of the submissive, her wings expanding on their own to protect her kin and intimidate the other. She growled again warning the other to

not get closer. She felt the submissive behind her place her hand on her back and start to coo in relaxing and soothing sounds. It took her a moment but eventually she realized that her kin was speaking to her. With more effort than she thought it would take, she was eventually able to understand what was being said.

" Hermione dear, calm down take a deep breath, that's your father. He's your father. Calm down now it'll be okay."

Trusting the soothing voice she took a deep breath through her nose and immediately smelled that the other dracken was kin as well. Relaxing she pulled her wings in tighter and stood up straight. The male, her father, did the same, his muscles relaxing from when he had prepared to protect his mate, even from their own chick.

He turned to mate, at a loss at what to do now. "what should we do?"

"Take her hunting Patrick. Like you did with Greg. She'll feel the need to soon so take her to the forest. We'll deal with the rest later."

Patrick nodded at his mate and motioned to his over stimulated and dangerous daughter to follow him, "follow me sweetheart."

Hermione looked at her mother and gave a questioning coo. Jean smiled, patting her on the arm and nudging her from the room, "go on now."

She followed her father down the stairs and out into the back garden. She lifted her head to the sun rise, her nostrils flaring as she welcomed all the new, exciting scents. Her head turned with every new sound, a butterfly's wings, a squirrel waking up, leaves falling from the tree next door. Her father came to her, turning her to face him. His own reddish brown wings extended.

"Focus sweetheart. Extend your wings and feel the wind."

It took some time, but the dracken in Hermione was in tune with her instincts and took to the skies with no hesitation. After a short burst of playful exploration of the sky and her new wings on her part, her father directed their flight to the forest fifty miles north of their town.

They flew into the dense forest landing on the springy moss covered ground. Immediately Hermione started sniffing, crouching and stalking any of the animals she sensed. Patrick stayed near her, but not too close letting her hunt and find her first kill.

Later that afternoon when the Sun was high in the sky, Patrick finally got his daughter away from her kill. It had been much to his surprise to land near his daughter and notice her mauling a rather large bear. (author note- I know there are no bears in England but for the sake of the story bare with me) She seemed to have no problem with it, before he could even intervene it was dead and she had been happily consuming it.

They had landed right outside of the cabins that lined the beginning of the forest. Hermione was covered in blood and flying into the city during the broad daylight was not a good idea. Normally the Grangers would have already reserved a cabin, like they did for Hermione's older brother so he could transform and hunt without drawing attention. But since they had thought her to be submissive they hadn't bothered.

Patrick went up to the front office and rented one of the cabins for one night. He then returned to the forest edge and ushered his daughter who was swaying from exhaustion into the cabin he rented. He directed her to the bedroom and she collapsed immediately into a deep sleep.

He sighed wearily as he left the room, never had he or Jean thought Hermione would be a dominate. Female dominates just were so unusual. More rare than even male submissive. Looking back, she always was an independent, strong and hardheaded child. Perhaps there were signs and they'd just missed them. Either way, what was done, was done and he still loved his daughter and honestly he no longer had to worry about her being hurt by some dominate wishing to control her. But at the same time, not many submissive females would want a female dominate. No, she would have a tough enough time in dracken society for her family to waste pity on her now.

New mindset in place, Patrick got his cell phone out and gave his wife a call telling her where they were so she could come join them and bring the car.

When Hermione woke up the first thing she realized was that she was not in her room at home. The next was that she was covered in blood and dirt. It was on her hands, arms, knees and feet. She licked her lips and tasted it there, in her mouth. She got flashes of the past twelve hours but before she could get too worried she could smell her father had been in the room. She got up and saw a pile of her clothes on the bed that smelled of home and her mother.

She went into the bathroom across from the room and jumped into the cozy shower. After scrubbing the blood from her body and hair until she tingled she exited the stall, ready to face her parents and get some answers. This wasn't how her inheritance was meant to go. She was supposed to wake up a submissive dracken then return to Hogwarts like nothing had happened. Obviously, something was different.

She glanced in the mirror and couldn't look away. Was this her? She'd grown taller, taller than she'd ever been, even in high heels. And her muscles. Bloody hell she looked like a female body builder. Not grotesque but ripped. She felt her arms and legs and they were like steel, no fat on them and her stomach, she had a six pack with out even flexing.

Most disheartening was her breasts. Where she used to have reasonably respectable C cup breasts now stood more muscle and pitiful A cups at most. She still looked like a woman, her hips still flared, and waist still trim but she looked so alien to herself it took so long to look away.

Some of the changes were expected though, her eyes glowing gold and amber with snake-like slits, her hair was longer reaching her lower back in soft shiny curls the color a golden streaked brown, the gold scales around her eyes on her cheekbones, around where her wings were on her back, hips, and upper thighs, and the large black talons.

Finally she pulled herself away from the mirror an out of the bathroom. She quickly changed into the sweats and tank top that her mother had brought her. She then went down the hallway into the living room where both of her parents were seated in front of the small fireplace.

"What happened" she said without preamble, crossing her arms and trying to hide her fear.

"Don't you remember" said Jean, shifting in her seat, glancing at Patrick worriedly.

"I remember everything, what I don't understand is why."

"I'm so sorry sweetheart," said Jean. "We didn't know. We thought you would be submissive but apparently you're not."

She stood there for moment taking it all in. "So what does this mean?" she said.

Her mother had tears in her eyes, and when she opened her mouth all that came out was an emotional whimper. Her father put his arm around her mother, "It doesn't mean anything, not really. We'll just cancel your dracken gathering this summer and instead you'll go to the next submissive's gathering as an unmated dominate, like your brother did."

Hermione frowned, "don't treat me like a child Dad. I know what it means, I'll most likely be alone forever. Not many female drackens out there looking for the mutant mate. I'm not like male submissives, I'm like an in-between hybrid of the two. Dominant, but still able to get pregnant. Dominant, but not as physically strong as most of the male dominants. Dominant, but always in conflict with it. I'm not even into girls. I hate other girls besides Ginny and Luna, and even them I wouldn't want to shag. I'm a freak who'll be alone for the rest of her life."

"I wont let you talk that way young lady." Roared her father, getting up from his seat and grabbing her arms, "your mother and I have raised you and your siblings to be strong persevering people and this is the thanks we get? I did not raise you to buckle under the slightest change of plan. We are your parents and have stood by you when you blew up Mr. Hershal's trash cans when you were six, got a letter to go to a school to learn magic, told us all of the fantastic and dangerous adventures you've been on. You will not be alone, even if 'you' choose to be without a mate. Your family will always be there for you."

He then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him. "I love you sweetheart. Nothing can ever change that, and any submissive who doesn't see you for the amazing person you are doesn't deserve you."

Hermione felt tears come to her eyes, "Thank you Daddy."

Then the Grangers hugged and cried, because they knew that nothing was ever as easy as you liked to believe.

Hermione hugged her parents one last time before she gathered her overnight bag and headed towards the fireplace, ready to go back to school. She desperately hoped Harry and Ron had not noticed her disappearance. What with Harry's constant lesions with Dumbledore and Malfoy stalking and Ron's sickening relationship with Lavender. That last still stung, even though Hermione had known she and Ron could never really be together, the loss of ones first crush was always heart breaking.

Hermione took another glance in the mirror by the mantle and was happy to note her potion was working. It was a variation of a concealment charm that she found in one of her ancestors dairies. Yes, she had magical ancestors. Her family was descended from muddled lines of many different magical families, but her parents and their parents had been born with no magic, aside from their dracken inheritance. She supposed that made them squibs technically, but they lived firmly in the muggle world even though two of Hermione's older siblings were wizards as well.

The potion was actually quite brilliant. It took the attributes she gained and hid them, then slowly over the next six months she would start to gain more and more of her new physical appearance at a normal rate, until it merely seemed she had had a growth spurt and taken to working out. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than having to try and explain the change to her classmates or always remember to cast a concealment charm.

It had taken her hours to find and make the potion. This was not something she planned for, she had resigned herself to the fact that she would be a submissive, she hadn't liked it, but she'd known since she was a child and for something she'd always expected to not happen, bothered her. She'd had a plan and expectations that would never come true. She felt lost and near a breakdown, but her parents didn't need to know, they were already punishing themselves enough as it was.

She nodded at the familiarity of her old image in the mirror, pushing her stress and worry down before grabbing some flu powder from the small baggy in her satchel. "Bye Mum, bye Dad."

"Bye love, see you at the end of term. We love you."

She waved, then stepped into the green fire stating, "Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall's office."

She felt the ground lurch underneath her and she whooshed past other grates, spinning and chocking on the ash. Finally, she stumbled out of the unadorned and simplistic mantle in her head of house's office. She barely managed to not fall as she appeared, her new found balance her saving grace.

"Hello Ms. Granger, how was your trip? I hope your father is feeling better."

Hermione turned to Professor McGonagall and offered a shaky smile, "it was fine professor, and I believe he's doing much better. The doctors are optimistic he'll recover soon."

"That is wonderful my dear, I believe dinner is still being served if you'd like to join the other students." She nodded her head slightly, I think I'll just head bed professor, thank you though."

"As you wish my dear. Good evening."

Hermione left the office, slowly making her way through the halls and up to the Gryffindor tower. She opened the portrait door and found a partially empty room, only a few underclassmen were scattered around. She made her way up to her dorm room, depositing her satchel and grabbing her notebook and an ancestor's dairy. She made her way back downstairs and found an armchair by the fire to hole up and take notes.

Hours later she glanced up to find the common room stuffed with her housemates, Harry and Ron included. No one seemed surprised to see her or curious about her whereabouts this weekend. It seemed her plan had worked. She smiled grimly before returning back to her book, not sure if she was happy or sad that no one had noticed her absence. Against her better judgment, her eyes began to water, a single tear falling onto her book followed by an onslaught of other deserters, guess it bothered her. She quickly wiped her eyes before standing and rushing out of the common room, heading toward the astronomy tower.

She headed up the stairs as quickly as possible, tears falling and sobs barely being held back. She knew it was silly and defiantly not something to cry about, but the fact that no one missed her, no one noticed her absence all weekend hurt more than she thought.

She opened the large wooden door to the top of the tower and finally let a sob out. It was useless to fight the tears. Between her inheritance mishap and the lack of sleep and now her friends acting exactly how she expected them to, she was mentally frazzled and in need of a good cry.

She let it all out, her frustration, fear, anger. It poured out of her and she let it engulf her, finally feeling what she'd been feeling for days. After a while it stopped hurting and the sobs slowed and disappeared. All she was left with was a sense of numbness and stark acceptance.

She stood up, only vaguely remembering collapsing earlier, and walked to the stone railing of the tower. She leaned on the rail, crossing her arms on top and resting her chin on them. She stood staring at the stars for awhile, letting her breathing calm and eyes dry.

She closed her eyes to cold wind as it whipped across her face. The roar of the wind almost blocked out the creaking of the door behind her, but her new hearing amplified the old hinges whine as the door opened bringing a familiar scent with it.

She turned around to see Harry standing there, a concerned look on his face.

"Hey Hermione, are you ok?"

She smiled slightly at the earnest look on his face as his hair became even more disheveled in the wind. It was funny, but at her true height she'd be taller than him. That thought caused her to sob again, new tears flowing down her cold checks.

"I…I'm fine…sniff… just feeling…sick. Yea….just a little sick." She mumbled, hoping he wouldn't notice her tears. She wiped a hand over her nose and mopped as many tears as possible in passing.

Harry frowned at her, his glasses fogging in the cold, "well if you are feeling sick, you should come inside." He walked towards her, reaching a hand out to her, "please Mione? Let's go inside."

She stared at his hand before nodding and excepting his help, letting him lead her inside. They both sighed in relief when the door was finally shut and the warmth of the castle seeped into their bones. Harry took his glasses off and cleared the glass on his shirt tail, sitting on the top step pulling her down next to him.

"Are you sure you're ok Hermione?"

She sniffed again, before sinking onto the stair next to him.

"I'll be fine Harry, I just have a lot to deal with right now."

Harry put his arm around her, pulling her close to his side. Her Dracken was both comforted and insulted by the motion. Her head rested on his shoulder and she felt the rumble of his voice in his chest as he spoke, "Forget Ron, he's a twit and if he doesn't realize it soon, I'll sick Ginny on him. And she knows some pretty nasty hexes, do you remember Doris Finley?"

Hermione giggled wetly at the image of the petite Weasley cursing her brother to develop pink glittery skin and a unstoppable desire to twirl like the Finley girl. After a moment Harry laughed too, and they both fell into a fit of laughter, not being able to stop until Mrs. Noris caught them fifteen minutes later. Their laughter echoed down the corridor as they ran back to the common room, troubles momentarily forgotten.

He was dead, he was actually dead. Nothing could prepare her for this as she, Ron, and Harry all sat huddled on the Gryffindor common room couch, staring into a dying fire. No one said a word as they simply sat and waited for the sun to rise on the day of Albus Dumbledore's, the greatest wizard of the modern era, former Headmaster of Hogwarts, and leader of the Order of Phoenix, Funeral.

Hermione for once didn't know what to say. She had no idea what was going to happen now. No place felt safe anymore, not even Hogwarts. She glanced over at Harry, he hadn't said a word in days, not really. He had been there though and she couldn't even imagine what he was going through. She subtly took hold of his hand, causing him to jerk up and stare at her blankly, then down at their hands. She smiled weakly at him and they all just sat there, silently comforting each other. And when the sun rose, they walked together to the ceremony and sat together again until it was over and a new determination fell over their group.

Hermione watched passively as Harry broke it off with Ginny, she turned and saw Ron do the same with Lavender. Then they both came back to her side and they stood together.

"It's all changed now, hasn't it?" asked Hermione softly.

"It has", said Harry. "There's no going back now, this has to end, I'm tired of just letting people die. It's time to fight."

"Then you might as well count me in mate." Said Ron, sounded far more serious than Hermione had ever heard him before.

"Ron, it's going to be…"

"If you say it's going to be too dangerous for us Harry Potter, I'll curse you here and now. We're coming with you, it never was a question for us." Said Hermione with a glare.

Harry gave her a weary smile, "Alright then. The three of us versus Voldemort and all his Death Eaters. This should be a piece of cake."

"You forget, we have the weapon he knows not, we have each other." Said Hermione, taking one of each of their arms in her own. "We'll win, I just know we will."

"Mum, Dad, I'm going. You can't stop me, so stop trying." Hermione practically yelled. Her dracken was close to the surface, straining to come out and fight for it's freedom. Ever since she'd gotten home from her sixth year her parents had been smothering her, not letting her go into town alone, fly alone, and now go to the Burrow to collect Harry from the Dursley's. she was pacing in the living room her Dracken screaming to go and protect her friends, her family. They were in danger with her still here how could they not see that? The Death Eaters would find her she knew it, her siblings knew it, only her parents didn't seem to understand.

It was a tired argument and she wished that her siblings would hurry their arses up and get over here before she cursed their parents. Just then the front door opened and four people walked in. The first was Hermione's only sister, Alisa, who was the second oldest and a practicing pediatrician. She came into the room, noticed Hermione's pained expression and immediately swept their mother out of the room to go make tea.

Next entered Hermione's oldest brother Gregory, thirty six years old and a fire fighter. He glared at Hermione, still upset from their latest fight. It seemed her being dominant ruffled his feathers and the lost 'big brother' respect really didn't sit well with him. He then went to hug their father and talk to him about the Football game last night and his newest son's recent check up.

Last, the twins entered. They were the closest to Hermione, though being eleven years older than her they were more like babysitters to her growing up than siblings. They were the only other magic users in the family, they had gone to Durmstrang and now lived in Australia studying Minotaur life and culture for the Australian ministry's Protection and Regulation of Magical Creatures Department. They nodded to her as they walked in, the usually jovial twins merely slunk up to her side, their usually immaculate suits rumpled and travel worn.

"We got here as soon as we got your owl," Said the one on her right, probably Dorian.

"International portkeys aren't easy to get you know," said the twin on her left. "This had better be a real emergency, why do I see dad calmly sitting on the couch. And is that tea I smell? What kind of emergency has time for tea?" yup, that one was defiantly Alex, he sure did like to complain.

"Mione, what's going on?" said Dorian.

"I'm going to need your help with something, and I need you to promise to help me before I tell you what it is." Whispered Hermione, staring at her brothers, actually the same height as them for once.

"What the hell? Why would we do that?" said Alex.

"Because it's important, but I'm not sure you'll agree. At least hear me out."

Alex went to say no, but Dorian covered his mouth with his hand nodding at her, "we promise to listen, what's going on love?"

"I need to erase Mum and Dad's memories of me and send them far away from England tonight before the Death Eaters find them and kill them for being my parents."

The twins stared at her in shock, not knowing what to say. Alex seemed to recover first and was about to question her when she barreled on.

"I've got it all planned. You two live in Australia, so I'm going to erase myself from their memories and give them the notion that they want to live closer to you both. I've already found them a house, dental practice to join, and the money to do so. Alisa and Gregory are leaving too. All I need your help with is the incantation. I could do it myself but it will be much safer and faster with your help."

Dorian noticed the seriousness in her eyes, the determined set of her jaw and knew she'd made up her mind. This wasn't her asking for permission, it was her telling them the plan she intended to act on with or without their help.

"How the hell did you get Greg to agree with this crazy plan of yours?" hissed Alex.

Hermione flushed, remembering the near physical fight she'd almost had with her older dominate brother. He had not liked the plan one bit, until Hermione had screamed at him that their parents would die and given him examples of what could be done to them before they died. Not her proudest moment, but successful.

"I reasoned with him, he agrees this is the best way. Australia is a long way away and you two can protect them with magic."

Dorian nodded at her plan, "a good point, but I still don't like this Hermione, you're our sister, we can't just leave you to fight some mad man with two other children. We should be here, preparing to fight with you."

"No", said Hermione. "If anyone on His side found out who you were they'd use you against me. You'll be safer in Australia and if for some reason we fail, you'll be there and not here."

Jean and Alisa walked back into the room and placed the tea on the coffee table. Everyone picked up a cup, but only Jean and Patrick drank. One minute later the two were fast asleep as the potion Hermione had given Alisa to slip into the tea worked its magic on the drackens.

Hermione nodded to Greg and Alisa and they went up the stairs to Hermione's room and their parents room removing all pictures that had her in them.

She turned to the twins, "will you help me? Please," she pleaded.

Alex and Dorian shared a look and together said, "Alright, we'll help you."

And together the three of them violated their parents minds, drawling out and bottling the memories of Hermione. The silvery memories went into a flask that could one day be returned to the Grangers, but for now would be carried in Hermione's never ending bag. It took the three of them an hour, but finally every last memory of Hermione was removed, memories of an imaginary pet dog or neighborhood children filling the holes and a strong desire to move to Australia to be closer to their 'youngest' children implanted.

When they were done Hermione Granger no longer existed in her parents minds and it was time to go. Her parents being drackens, the potion she had used would not last much longer. She leaned over them, kissing their foreheads and hugging them goodbye before wiping her wet eyes.

"We'll take care of them," said Alisa, having come down from removing pictures. "Here, take these with you." She gave Hermione the pictures before hugging her little sister close. "Be safe."

"Thank you" said Hermione wetly.

Gregory came up to her, scowl still in place. "We've got them covered, you just take care of yourself ok? Listen to your instincts and you live, you got me?"

Hermione smiled at him, hugging her usually tough and gruff brother tightly.

Then she turned to the twins, Dorian came up to her first.

"Don't forget, you're the brightest witch of your age. I expect you to prove it." He hugged her tight before stepping back and pushing Alex towards her.

"thank you for helping Alex, it meant a lot."

"Don't thank me," said Alex glaring at her harsher than even Greg. "Just hurry and end this so those memories can go back where they belong." He then shoved past her and out the door before anyone could stop him.

"I'm sorry," said Dorian. "That wasn't right of him, I'll talk to him..,"

"No," said Hermione," what I've done is unforgivable, but it had to be done. I love you all. Goodbye."

With a final look around the house she'd grown up in, Hermione grabbed her expanded bag, stuck out her wand and apperated away, not to return until the final battle was over and Good had prevailed.

A/N So? Good/bad, needs to be deleted, continued. Sorry to dump the neediness on you, but what else is this writing for if not the compliments and critique of complete strangers. So r&r and I hope to get the next chapter up soon if this story is interesting enough.

Any thoughts, suggestions and input are appreciated. I'm posting this as it's written so updates will be sporadic.


	2. Harsh Reality

A/N alright, chapter two, hope you like it, after this, the story should jump forwards alittle. I aploigize for any mistakes in regards to DH timeline and if there are any that you notice and can be fixed, I'll be happy too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, never have, never will. This is just for fun.

Chapter 2- Harsh Realities

Hermione rushed into the living room, tension high and her pulse running. The first thing that she saw was Ron standing off to the side with the rest of the Wesley's. The extraction had not gone as planned and the last time she'd seen Harry, he and Hagrid had been falling from the sky.

She noticed high pitched noises coming from her throat as she scrutinized Ron making sure he had no injuries. He was her friend, like family and surprisingly her dracken seemed to agree. She was sure that if he had been paying attention to her he would have seen that her eyes had changed and she had a deranged look in them.

Just then the door opened and Harry came stumbling in with Hagrid, looking shaken, but not too worse for wear. She let out a sigh of relief before running to him asking if he was okay then wrapping him in her arms and subtly sniffing him. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he said something about Mad Eye Moody, Hedwig, and his broom. She hugged him a little tighter, before releasing him and moving over to where the rest of the Wesley's were.

She gasped when she noticed that one of the twins, George, was on the couch clutching his ear. She could smell blood and noticed everyone laughing at a joke he had made tears in their eyes. She spent a moment while they were all distracted trying to suppress her creature, digging her claws into her palm as she averted her eyes.

She sighed as she felt herself calm down and everyone began to trickle off up the stairs to bed, or the kitchen for breakfast. Mrs. Wesley had managed to stop George's bleeding and was now sitting on the couch obviously shaken, Mr. Wesley sitting next to her stroking her back. Ginny nudged Hermione and the two girls made their way upstairs.

They got a few hors of rest before they went back downstairs and helped Mrs. Wesley with lunch. everyone seemed to be content to just pretend everything was normal, but the tension was high. it was like they expected Death Eaters to show up at any moment. eventually, they all seemed to calm down and relax. by the end of the night, the Burrow began to feel the way it always felt before, like home.

Sitting around the fire that night, Hermione watched Harry and Ron play a game of wizards chess as Ginny listened to the radio and Mrs. Wesley knitted. Hermione pulled out her copy of _The Truth About Dracken's. I_t had been written in the seventeenth century by a Dracken elder and had been passed down through her family for generations.

_Chapter 1. The Physicality of a Dracken_

_On the seventeenth birthday of every Dracken child they undergo an inheritance transformation. Like the name suggests, Drackens are loosely related to Dragons. During transformations Dracken gain a second form, a creature form. They gain the eyes, wings, claws, fangs and scales of a dragon._

_Eyes,_

_Eyes become slanted and reptilian gaining heightened awareness of otherwise invisible light spectrums. When flying, eyes are able to narrow and lock onto prey meters below a flying dracken. _

_Wings,_

_Wings very based on a dracken's size and whether they are submissive or dominate. The largest recorded wing span on a dominate was six meters. Most average to 4.5 meters. These wings are always scaled and for dominates, reflect their eye color._

_For submissive's the wings span is significantly smaller, but the length from top to bottom is longer as they are used for wrapping around their bodies in defense. Most average to 3.5 meters in span. Their wings are also scaled and will be different shades of white, (pure white, silver, beige, grey, mint green, est.), mostly reflecting a lighter version of their eye colors. When they mate, these light shaded wings will reflect the color of their dominate/s._

_All wings are used for flight,which is assisted by magic as most dracken's bones get denser with inheritance._

_Claws and fangs,_

_All dracken's get claws on their inheritance. For dominates these a thick and tough, usually black and non poisonous. Submissives get claws that are thin and long, like needles and most often coated in a poison that can disable any attackers, including other drackens. _

_Dominates fangs are long and sharp and coated with a chemical that calms when it enters the blood-stream. These are used to quickly slay prey and to calm and placate submissives. The saliva of all drackens is healing to other drackens as it stimulates the healing factor all drackens posses. _

_Scales,_

_Scale patterns are as unique as fingerprints for drackens, but have certain reoccurring placements. They are used as protection, the scales as tough as a dragons. Placements usually are on the outer forearms, sides of the neck, down the spine, across the belly, and the inner thighs protecting the femoral artery. _

_The inheritance also affects the 'human' form of a dracken. The dominates usually more noticeably than the submissives. Dominates become taller, stronger, and more physically defined. Submissives will become more attractive, hips rounder, breasts larger, and skin smoother. (for information on the abnormalities in Dracken society and any exceptions to these changes, see chapter 7- Male submissives and female dominates). _

_In seventeen forty-seven Cornelius Malloy became one of the first… _

Hermione shut the book after that, her eyes becoming unfocused and blurred as she fought off sleep. Re-reading the book she practically had memorized always helped to calm her enough for sleep. She put the book back into her bottomless bag and motioned to Ginny that she was going to bed, before heading up the stairs.

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The next week passed without too much incident, as the Wesley household prepared for Bill and Fleur's wedding. They boys spent time tormenting gnomes, playing games of quidditch, and generally just being boys. Hermione was contently sitting beneath an old willow tree, reading more of her ancestors diary as Harry and all the Wesley children were playing a game of quidditch with enchanted apples. Tomorrow was Harry's seventeenth birthday and Mrs. Wesley had been working on the cake all day, instructing Hermione to keep them all out of the house so it would be a surprise.

Hermione was jerked out of her book as a shower of twigges and leaves fell around her after the sound of a loud **thump**.

She glanced up and saw the disevaled head of Harry, hanging upside down in the tree, trapped in the vine-like branches of the willow.

"Hey Mione, how's it going?"

Hermione chuckled at Harry, "A lot better than you, I'd say. How on earth did you manage to get yourself trapped like that?"

Harry grinned, his checks blushing, "oh you know, overzealous twin decided to launch me into a tree. Didn't seem to care if I'd broken my neck or not!" He yelled the last bit, getting a "sod off" from one of the twins.

Hermione chuckled, casting a vanishing spell on the vines around him and a quick levitation spell before he hit the ground.

"Thanks, I can't wait until I'm able to do magic myself."

Hermione put her wand away, "Soon enough. Are you excited for tomorrow?"

Harry shrugged, "I guess. I know Mrs. Wesley is planning to throw me a party, but I'm not sure we should be, you know… with everything that's going on."

She put her hand on his, " that's exactly why we should. If we let them take away our right to celebrate then what do we have? Besides, we need it. Just like we need Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"I guess so. I just wish they'd tell us what is going on. I mean, we cant just stay here all summer and hide. We need to be out there…"

"I know Harry. I know… but we cant right now. You're still traced and think of how upset Bill and Fleur would be if you missed their wedding? After the wedding okay? We'll leave then, and not a moment too soon."

Harry nodded solumly, "Alright, I'm holding you to that."

"Harry? You coming back? Or are you excepting defeat?"

Harry stood up, grabbing the ratty broom that landed next to him, "I'm coming you twats! And you're so going to pay for the tree Fred!" He waved at Hermione before jumping on the broom and soaring towards the others.

Hermione smiled at the others, watching them play for a few moments before turning back to her book.

_Dairy of Gregory Granger, Date August 23, 1856_

_Tonight was the night of my youngest daughter's first gathering. Nearly all the unmated dominates in the country and some from out of the country were there to meet my daughter and convince her to choose them as a mate. _

_Abigail had already greeted and dismissed twenty dominates, three hopefuls had not yet been rejected, and two had been forcefully removed by myself and my brothers. It was then I noticed a hooded figure make its way through the crowd of hopefuls and their families. They approached my daughter and removed their hood. _

_I remember being shocked as I saw a beautiful woman kneel before my daughter and take her hand. She was tall and muscular, her long black hair tied back in a tight braid. She was exotic, her skin a light brown and her eyes almond shaped. _

_It is a such a rare thing to see a female dominate. The few that there are are usually very conflicted creatures, their instincts to mate confused by the human in them aware of social norms and usually not interested in the opposite sex. But this woman, who I later learned was named Yasmin Patel, did not seem to be so conflicted. _

_Within the hour she had wowed my daughter and I noticed the signs. I nudged Henry and he noticed the signs as well. It is ironic that the daughter of one of the first male submissives in a decade will seemingly be part of one of the first all female pairs in equally as long a time. Henry thinks it's too soon to tell, but I think Yasmin is going to be a wonderful new addition to the family. _

These entries gave Hermione hope, Gregory being one of the few dracken members of her family that seemed quite open minded. From later passages, Hermione knew that Abigal and Yasmin had mated and that they had opened their relationship up to another dominate, Richard Garfield, and the three of them had eleven children.

Unfortunately, theirs was an ideal story as most female dominates either never mated, or married humans, giving up their chance to continue their line. Some would even mate with other dominates, these relationships always being dangerous and often tragic.

Solitude would probably be all she had to look forward to, but with the way the world was going, it was not something she'd have to worry about anytime soon.

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Later that night Hermione woke to a strange noise. She cast a quick _tempus _charm and saw it was 1:26 and that Ginny was fast asleep. She sat up as she heard the noise again, it seemed to come from right above her. She slowly slid out of the bed and put on a pink robe. She slowly opened the door, and crept into the hallway. She listened but didn't hear anything else but snores and the high pitched noises from upstairs.

She pulled her wand out and made her way up the stairs, stopping in front of Ron's room. She slowly opened the door, cringing at the loud creak. Inside she saw Ron, fast asleep and snoring loudly. On the mat on the floor was Harry and the source of the noise. She quickly ran over the him, calling his name quietly, but he wouldn't wake up. His skin was on fire, and he was thrashing in his sheets getting tangled. She took a deep breath and was shocked to smell dracken. Confused, but unable to get answers, she cast a quick silence spell around the mattress and got comfortable as she grabbed his hand, caressing his hand and whispering comforting words.

She didn't know what to do. Didn't even think this would be a possibility and she took effort to breath slow, deep breaths. He seemed to be in so much pain and she had no idea what she was doing, pushing his hair back from his forehead, summoning a bowl of water and a cloth from downstairs, but nothing seemed to work.

After nearly an hour of sitting there, holding his hand and wetting his forehead, she felt claws dig into her palm. Panicking, she remembered an essential part of the inheritance, wings. She quickly pushed and rolled him onto his stomach. She pulled the wife beater off him and saw the skin on his back stretch and pulse before two large wet appendages erupted from his back.

The large green wings stretched up then out, the goop on them disappearing and leaving shinning emerald scaled beauties behind. She watched, entranced as green scales began spreading along his back and other key locations.

She traced these new additions, mesmerized by the feel of the hard smooth scales. It took her a moment, but she felt before she heard the low growls coming from the man beside her. She looked down and saw the slanted green eyes looking up at her with a guarded look.

She was shocked, he hadn't just attacked her, it didn't make sense. But then it did, as he launched himself up and knocked her over. She panted, shocked as she realized he had her pinned to the ground, his fangs bared.

She lay there for all of a second before she growled back, letting her dracken take over as all but her wings erupted and she flipped them. She growled down at him, her knees on either side of his hips. She could feel her potion wearing off as she gained the last inch of her height and felt the strength increase as she leaned forward and following her instincts, sank her teeth into Harry's neck, biting down forcefully. He thrashed for a few moments, before it felt like he went boneless. A low purring noise started deep in his chest and after a moment she pulled back and stared down at him.

He was looking back at her with lidded eyes and she felt her confusion go up even more. She had no idea what that was, or why it worked, but she slowly removed herself from on top of him. She leaned back on her toes, watching as he leaned up on his elbows sniffing and cooing at her. When he had sat completely upright she was shocked to see how he'd grown.

He was larger, his shoulders broad and developed. His chest and abs were chiseled and he seemed to be taller, even if he was sitting down. Overall, it was a shocking change, a lot like her own inheritance had been. The only things that were the same was his crazy hair and the color of his eyes.

She stared for a second, before mentally shaking her head and standing slowly. Harry followed her with his eyes, cocking his head to the side like a dog. She walked slowly backwards towards the window, motioning with her finger for him to follow her. He crawled towards her, staying bellow her line of sight. When she felt the window behind her she turned and opened it, turning around she was shocked and nearly screamed when she came face to chest with him. She glanced up slightly and saw him staring at her, the same strange look on his face.

"We're going to go hunt now Harry, okay?" she whispered, letting her own wings unfurl. She turned to the window and leapt out, soaring up on the first air current she found.

"Come on," she said, cooing softly.

He immediately leapt from the window, no hesitation. She was slightly afraid when he seemed to plummet from the seventh story window and released a breath of relief when he rose to hover beside her with no issue.

She smiled shakily at him as she jerkily turned and began flying towards the fields around the Burrow. Harry zoomed ahead and cawing loudly as he dipped, rolled, and looped around her. She grinned, gaining confidence as she let her dracken take more and more control.

After some time just flying, they came across a field of horses and Harry immediately swooped down and began chasing a stallion as Hermione did the same, her dracken playing with and tormenting some poor mare.

She eventually looked up from her kill, blood dripping from her chin and claws. The thrill of the chase and the sweet, melting meat in her mouth was amazing and giving her such a rush of energy. She saw Harry a few meters over from her, his eyes closed and blood smeared all over his face. Her dracken practically purred at the sight, her human side recoiling in disgust before it was stifled.

Without even consciously noticing, she was making her way towards him. When she did finally notice she was already next to him, crouched over his kill. He was staring at her with glowing eyes, his breath coming out in pants. She couldn't help but be entranced by the scent of him, like sugar, vanilla, and soap. She watched as his tongue came out and wet his lips. Her eyes dilated, her body throbbed, and without a word, she launched herself at him.

It was amazing, the flare of pleasure the scents, the feelings, the touches. They were loud, rough, passionate. The edge came tumbling closer and closer and then would roll back like waves before it came back, harder, stronger until it drowned her and the world went blissfully dark.

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'why is the sun in my eyes?' she thought, rubbing her eyes with her hands. She stretched, feeling hard ground underneath her. She blinked her eyes open, seeing the rising sun in the distance. She sat up slowly, feeling pain spread from her lower stomach to… oh no. She gasped as she quickly looked around, she was covered in blood, her arms, hands, legs, thighs. And she could make out the corpses of two horses near her, making her gag and nearly throw up. Starting to shake she turned at the sound of someone groaning. Her eyes went wide as she noticed Harry, at least it smelled like Harry. Then the memories of last night came flooding back, Harry changing, going flying, hunting, and then… and then…

"Holy Fuck!" she screamed, scrambling around, trying to find some clothes any clothes.

"Wha? Moine… what happened?" Harry grumbled sitting up himself, obviously unaware of his naked status. "why… Why are you naked?" he looked down, yelping, "why am I naked?" he looked down again, seeing the dark green scales on his stomach, thighs and arms. "What is this?"

She glanced over at him, seeing his wide eyes and shaking form, she laughed alittle, panic starting to sink in as she moved slowly over towards him, taking his face in her blood covered hands.

"shhh…shhh… it's okay Harry. Just breath…"

"is that… is that blood on your face… why…why?"

"Harry!"

"did we kill someone.. oh Merlin… what did we do?!"

**Smack* **

Harry's eyes were wide as he automatically put a hand on his cheek.

Hermione gasped, reaching towards him, smoothing his hair and cooing at him, "I'm so sorry, but you needed to calm down. It's ok, I promise; just think back, you should be able to remember last night… can you?"

Harry looked confused for a moment, his eyes still wide before a confused and then worried look over came his face. He turned sharply, grabbing onto one of the massive wings behind him, staring at it for a long time. Then he looked contemplative as he glanced at the horses near them, his tongue coming out and licking his lips and the blood still coating them. He then released the wing and stared at her, his eyes wide and a bright red blush covering his cheeks.

She felt a responding blush cover her own cheeks.

"Did we…"

She nodded, unable to speak.

"Are you ok? Did I… hurt you?"

"I'm fine, I'm sore, but I think…" she let out a sob, her hand covering her mouth, trying to keep them in a sher body began shaking again.

Harry's eyes got wide again as he leaned forward and grabbed her, pulling her into a hug, his wings wrapping around her.

"I'm so, so sorry Mione… I'm"

"shhh… just... hold me…please Harry," she cried, the sobs wrecking through her body causing her to stutter.

And he did, she didn't know for how long, but the sun was defiantly risen by the time she was able to pull back from his arms.

"I'm sorry," she said, rubbing at her eyes and cheeks unknowingly spreading blood all over her face.

"What's going on Hermione? What are we?" He reached out, tracing the scales along her neck, causing her to purr unconsciously.

"We're drackens Harry. Sort of dragon-human hybrids. This form," she gestured between the two o them. "This is our creature form, used for defense and courtship. If you concentrate, you should be able to change back, however the growth spurt is permanent."

Harry nodded numbly, taking in her change, they had all commented on her growth/fitness, but this was the first time he'd really noticed her change.

"Fucking hell! Hermione, you look…" he then blushed, looking away when he realized he was staring at her naked form.

She chuckled darkly, "You should see yourself, I think you've gained four inches at least."

He immediately looked down and she blushed, "I meant in height! Merlin!" she then snorted laughing for real, unable to stop as he blushed and joined in. They laughed until they had tears in their eyes, panting with the effort.

She wiped tears away, trying to keep herself from dwelling on what they had done as she forced back more tears. She stood, lowering her hand to him, "we need to get back, and quick before they see us sneaking in, snarkers I might add."

"yeah," said Harry, getting up and stretching, she had to force herself to not watch. "we should… but what about…" he gestured to the corpses around them.

Hermione looked around and found her soiled pajama pants with her wand in the pocket, "Thank God." She cast a quick vanishing spell on the horses and a _scorgify _on the two of them. "That should do it."

She then cast the same spell on her pajama bottoms and the tank top she found near them. Harry came over with his boxers and she did the same for him, at least they wouldn't be totally naked if they were found, however the rips in her pajamas would be hard to explain.

She then let out her wings and leapt into the sky, waiting for him to join her. The flight back was silent and awkward. They landed on the window sill to Ron and Harry's room, thankfully the house was silent. They ducted into the room and tiptoed to Harry's bed, Hermione picking up her bathrobe as she passed it.

She was about to head out the door when Harry grabbed her wrist.

"What?" she whispered.

"we…er… that is… I need to know more… I mean…" Harry looked nerevous and shy sitting there.

"I know. Wait here on moment." She then headed out of the room silently, letting her dracken features melt away, the slight discomfort of her wings re-folding into her back was unpleasant, but bearable. She slipped through the crack in Ginnys door and pulled new pajama bottoms out of her bag putting them on and grabbing a potions vile from it as well. She then leaped up the stairs back into the boys room to see Harry right where she left him, wings still out and everything.

"Here," she said, handing him the potion. "Take this and you'll look like you did yesterday. You'll slowly start to look like you do now over time."

He nodded slightly, before gulping the potion down.

"and you'll need to concentrate on getting rid of those wings. Just imagine their gone, concentrate on that."

Harry nodded vaguely, closing his eyes as he shrank before her eyes, back to how he was before. And after a moment, his wings and claws disappeared until looked exactly as he did the day before.

"I did it!"

She smile tightly back, "yes, you did."

Harry glanced up at her wincing, "I'm so sorry…"

"Stop it Harry, besides, I'm pretty sure I'm the one that jumped you."

"but.."

"Just shut it already!" she yelled, before covering her mouth and turning towards Ron. They both held their breath, but Ron just grunted and rolled over.

They sighed, before looking at each other again.

"Let's go downstairs, I'll explain as much as I can then, ok?"

Harry nodded, pulling on some jeans and a t-shirt, then following her downstairs to get some answers.

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"So let me get this straight, I'm now a magical creature, that if anyone finds out about will be hunted, arrested, captured, or killed on sight. And I'm a dominate, which means… I'm going to be in charge of someone one day? Like in total control over another human being, or dracken, or whatever. And you are also a dominate, which means we cant be together, not really. Am I missing anything? Oh yea, and I just have to accept all of this within the next two hours, because appearently this is all 'very normal' behavior for dracken kind…"

Hermione grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly, "and you cant tell anyone, not even Ron. I'm sorry, but it's safer that way, especially now. If Voldemort found out. It'd be bad."

"yeah," said Harry, squeezing her hand back, "only one problem…" he looked at her, "I don't think I can just pretend last night didn't happen, I don't think my creature will let me Mione…"

"No," said Hermione, standing up and crossing her arms. "Don't even say that."

"It's true, right now all I can think about is…"

"Stop!" she hissed, putting up a hand. "Even if we weren't about to go to WAR, this would never work. Two dominates, alone in a relationship, they're bound to kill each other."

Harry stared at her, a hurt look in his eyes. "What if we're different?"

Hermione laughed, the sound cold even to her ears. "Don't be daft Harry, no ones that different. And I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you. Just… forget it. Please?"

Harry looked like he about to protest when she felt the first tear fall.

"please Harry?"

He frowned, then sighed and stood. He walked towards her, wiping the tear away with his thumb. "alright, alright Hermione. Consider it… forgotten."

He then turned and grabbed the books she brought down for him, then went to the stairs.

She wiped the next tear that fell, willing herself to stop crying.

"You know what?"

She turned seeing Harry standing on the bottom stair, "Wh…what?"

"Screw this. I refuse."

"What?"

He scowled, stomping towards her, getting in her face pushing her against the wall behind her.

"I'm not going to forget. I refuse to just forget." He purred into her ear, licking it as he pulled back. "Don't tell me you actually want to forget either."

That was the last straw.

Immediately her eyes shifted, her claws coming to hand as she slashed out at him, cutting his chest as she shoved him back. She launched herself at him, punching, kicking, biting, cutting at every bit of him she could find. She dropped him to the ground, they rolled and he gave as good as he got, but in the end she pinned him down and just kept punching. She kept punching until she was sure he'd given up, his head to the side, his neck bared to her.

She leaned forwards, her mouth next to his ear, "you will forget. Do you understand me? Don't you dare pursue this again or I will make you regret it? Got it?" She looked down, seeing him nod. "Good boy," then she bit his neck, brutally ripping the flesh and causing him to let out a scream of agony. Then she got up, whispering a cleansing spell and leaving him there to heal physically before anyone could tell what had happened, the empty look in his eyes the last thing she saw.

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A?N- hey, sorry it took so long to update, but I've got a few more chapters planed and will hopefully get the next one out by next week. I hope you like this. Thanks for reading!


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